


Maybe There's No Obligations Now

by voodoochild



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Comment Fic, Gen, Male Friendship, Road Trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-15
Updated: 2010-09-15
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/116868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron's different in the South, except when it comes to his family. Dave doesn't take "no" for an answer and tags along anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe There's No Obligations Now

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **melliyna** in the iTunes playlist challenge. Title and quote below from Paul Simon's "Graceland".

_My traveling companions are ghosts and empty sockets  
But I have reason to believe we will all be received in Graceland_

*****

Aaron is different in the South.

The team even sees it - any case south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Hotch's drawl thickens, all "ma'am" and "yes, suh", body language going more slow and languid. You can take the boy out of Virginia, but you can't take the Virginia out of the boy. Even when you're driving to Staunton, which is barely three hours from Quantico.

Except for this time. The further south on 95 they get, the more tense Aaron is becoming. His hands are gripping the wheel more tightly, his jaw is locked, and if he doesn't calm the hell down and stop switching lanes, Dave is going to grab the wheel and pull them over himself.

"You didn't have to come," Aaron says, flicking his gaze sideways to Dave in the passenger seat. It even feels strange to be in Aaron's old pickup, instead of one of the Bureau SUV's. "It's just a quick visit with my mother and the rest of the clan. No one should subject themselves to that."

"It's not just a quick visit."

Aaron looks over, surprised. "How do you figure that?"

"You left Jack with JJ and Henry. If you were really going for a visit, why wouldn't you bring your son, whom your family hasn't seen since - since the funeral?" He stutters over the words, the reminder hanging heavy between them, but he continues. "Also, you left your go bag at home, and you're still in a suit, which means you're hoping to get called away. Never mind the fact that you let me come with you far too easily."

"I keep telling you that you didn't have to come," is Aaron's reply.

Dave sighs, stretching his arm out the window. "Yes, I did. It's Staunton. It's your mother. You're going to need the moral support for when she guilt-trips you over never visiting and for staying with the BAU."

Constance Anne Wakefield Hotchner, of the Staunton Wakefields. She's formidable, what Dave's mother would have called a "battleship" of a woman, and what his father would have called a "silver-spooned broad". Contrary to popular rumor, she doesn't eat small children for breakfast and she doesn't hate her son's job - she's just disappointed he hasn't risen higher in it. Connie thinks Aaron should have made Senator by now.

And the strangest thing? She likes Dave. They'd been astonished the first time Aaron had introduced her (at Aaron and Haley's wedding) and she'd taken a shine to him, tumbler of bourbon and his second wife on his arm regardless.

So when Aaron had announced he was taking personal time that coincided with her birthday, Dave had invited himself along. It's only been a month, after all, since Foyet and Haley's death and the investigation into it. Aaron's still wandering around half in a daze when they're not on cases and he still won't agree to retake the Unit Chief position, leaving Morgan in charge.

"It's still not your-"

Dave cuts him off, popping a CD into the player. "Shut the hell up, Aaron. I'm already here. You can't leave me on the side of the road."

The quirk to Aaron's mouth tells Dave he's thinking about it, but it broadens into a full-blown smile at the opening chords to "Cecilia". Dave is a Rat Pack and jazz fan, Aaron likes the Beatles and the British Invasion, but one of the bands they agree on is Simon and Garfunkel.

The rest of the drive is quiet, but a lot more smooth. And when Aaron pulls onto Dupont Ave and up to the house, before he turns the car off, he reaches over and squeezes Dave's hand.

"Thanks."

He's not just talking about going to Staunton with him.

"Anytime."


End file.
